Subscribe to this blog

follow by email

The 5 Cathedrals of Galicia, Spain

As a major architecture nerd, there’s nothing I love exploring while traveling so much as a sprawling castle, a light-filled church, or a stately mansion. I really enjoy getting to see in person how western architectural styles evolved over the centuries, from the most primitive of pre-Romanesque to the fascinating contemporary stuff built today. And while I may not be a Roman Catholic, I nevertheless did grow up in the church, so cathedrals hold a special place in my heart.

Over the past two years it’s been exciting to check out all five cathedrals located in Galicia, Spain’s northwestern region, from Santiago de Compostela’s monumental masterpiece to the humble mountain sanctuary of Mondoñedo. Let me share with you the interesting churches that head up the five Galician dioceses.

1) Lugo

Like all the rest of the cathedrals in Galicia, Lugo’s is at its core a Romanesque church, characterized by thick, heavy walls and columns with narrow slits for windows and lots of sculpture. But there’s quite a bit of Gothic going on here, too, especially in the apse behind the high altar and in the bell tower.

I’ll admit that Lugo’s cathedral is probably my least favorite in Galicia, and its uninspiring Neoclassical main façade seems pasted on to the rest of the church. Every time I go on a stroll at night on top of the city’s still-standing Roman walls, however, I find the cathedral all lit up…and I almost change my mind.

2) Mondoñedo

Nestled in a foggy mountain valley between Lugo capital and the rugged northern coast, the sleepy village of Mondoñedo surrounds its small but storied cathedral. Built in the 1200s in the Romanesque style, it later received a stunning Gothic stained-glass rose window and finally two pretty Baroque towers on its west façade.

During restoration work, they discovered some long-lost Gothic paintings that depict the Massacre of the Innocents (when King Herod ordered all babies in Judea killed to catch the infant Jesus). The cathedral’s caretaker explained these paintings’ double meaning: Catholic Spaniards were spared from attack by praying to God, whereas Moors were attacked for being Muslims. The painting was, in effect, a polemic during the final days of the Reconquista to get the Muslims to convert.

This diocese’s bishop actually splits his time between the cathedral here in lonely Mondoñedo and out west in Ferrol on the more populated coast. There, the Co-cathedral of San Xiao is unique in that the building was laid out in a Greek cross plan, meaning the “arms” of the church are all of the same length, like this: + whereas a Latin cross † has a long central nave, ideal for processions. This co-cathedral has a serene, neoclassical interior and I love the contrast of the whitewashed exterior with the natural granite.

3) Ourense

Ourense’s cathedral is one of my favorite in the whole country because you can really make out how the Romanesque style, with its heavy walls and taste for semicircular arches, was already in the 1100s converging toward the light, pointy arches and stained glass we all know and love in Gothic-style churches. Although firmly in the Romanesque camp, this cathedral excellently shows off the transition between the two styles.

Two wonders are housed within this cathedral’s walls: the Chapel of Santo Cristo, a dazzling Baroque cavern almost completely covered in glimmering gold leaf, and the Pórtico do Paraíso, a collection of Romanesque religious sculpture that, unlike the similar Pórtico da Gloria in Santiago, still preserves its original, colorful paint job.

4) Santiago de Compostela

I could go on and on about Santiago’s cathedral—and in fact, I have! But for this blog post, suffice it to say that this is one of the Christian world’s most significant cathedrals, as it claims to hold the relics of the Apostle James the Greater, one of Jesus’ closest companions, and as such the cathedral marks the end of the Camino de Santiago, a medieval pilgrimage route across northern Spain that has seen a rebirth in recent decades.

Over 800 years of history have left their mark on what was originally a clean, granite Romanesque shrine laid out in the pilgrimage church plan, that is, with an aisle running all the way around to let pilgrims wander about without disturbing religious services. And the Pórtico da Gloria, just inside the main west doors, is a true gem of medieval sculpture. But in the Baroque era, exuberant, climbing bell towers sprung up everywhere while gilded side-chapels budded off on all sides. Come as a pilgrim, stay for the architecture, leave hungry for…octopus!

5) Tui

The Galician cathedral that surprised me the most was Tui’s, just across the border from Portugal. Crowning this historic village’s riverside hill with towers and battlements, Tui’s cathedral appears more castle than anything else—and centuries ago it would have served as a fortress between Castilla and Portugal on the other side of the Miño River.

Cross the threshold beneath the entrance of saints floating into heaven and you’ll immediately be struck by all the crossbeams buttressing the cathedral from collapse. They were installed centuries after the initial Romanesque construction and to this day have protected this historical monument. Step outside into the cloisters and climb up the watchtower and you’ll get some lovely views of the Miño River and the fortress town of Valença in Portugal.

As with Ferrol in the diocese of Mondoñedo, there’s also a co-cathedral in Vigo; after all, it’s the biggest city in the region. Merely a small church that evokes a Roman temple, it stands out in Vigo’s tiny old town, visible from the port.

What others are reading:

If you’re like me, you’ve probably learned Spanish as it’s spoken throughout Latin America. Now, I know there is no one single standard Latin American accent, but there are a few things I’ve noticed when listening to Spaniards speak that distinguish them from Spanish speakers in, for example, Nicaragua or Argentina. Since living here for the greater part of a year, I’ve both consciously resisted and unconsciously picked up on many features of the typical Spanish accent. After thinking about it for a while, I’ve decided there are around five characteristics that most distinguish the Spanish of Spain from the Spanish of the Americas. These five sounds, when spoken in the Castilian way, will bring you much closer to sounding native.

1) Pronounce C before E & I and Z like TH
In the Americas you’ll hear the words ciudad (“city”), cereza (“cherry”), and zorro (“fox”) pronounced as “see-oo-DAHD” [sjuˈðað], “say-RAY-sah” [seˈɾe.sa], and “SOE-rroe” [ˈso.ro]. However, in Spain, you’ll pick …

This week I’ll be going into my third week in Spanish classrooms, but even in that short amount of time I’ve picked up on the words the kiddos use to get the attention of me or the teacher I’m helping.

1) profe
Pronounced “PROE-fay” [ˈpɾo.fe], this is a shortening of the Spanish word profesor or profesora, which looks like our word “professor” but means both university professor and teacher in any grade.

2) seño
Pronounced “SAY-nyoe” [ˈse.ɲo], this is a shortening of the Spanish words señorita (“Miss”) or señora (“Mrs.”). Two syllables are always easier to say than three or four!

4) teacher
In Spain, they learn British English in schools, so they pronounce the word “teacher” as “TEE-chuh” [ˈti.tʃə]. Sometimes they do attempt the American pronunciation, but it comes out more like “TEE-chahrr” [ˈti.tʃar].

Read my Galician crash course here to get up to speed in the language.Galician is a Romance language (i.e., from Latin) spoken by about 3 million people in Spain’s northwestern region of Galicia. Although it’s most closely related to Portuguese—which is spoken south of the border—it shares many similarities with Castilian Spanish, including sounds and spelling.

If you’re planning on spending any time traveling or living in this unique corner of Spain, or walking the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route that ends here, even a tiny knowledge of Galician will help you get around and navigate menus, maps, etc. If you happen to speak Spanish, you’re already 80% of the way to understanding Galician, and I’m serious! Getting a grasp on the grammatical and phonological differences will turbo boost you up to 90%.